NetSuite Release 2023.1 Overview

Background

After a long, cold and dark winter, spring is finally here. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and most importantly : NetSuite has released its first yearly update. From accounting to user interface and authentication enhancements, this brand new release will for sure meet or exceed our expectations. And if you ever feel lost in this rampant forest of updates and new features : don’t worry, Novutech has picked up some of these finest spring flowers and made a delicate NetSuite bouquet for you to enjoy.

Advanced Revenue Management Period Close Checklist Tasks Enhancements

Starting with the accounting features, NetSuite has introduced two additional tasks for the Period Close checklist. The first task, "Recognize Revenue," allows you to generate revenue recognition journal entries. The second task, "Reclassify Revenue," enables you to create revenue reclassification journal entries. These processes can be run at any time, and you can mark them as complete if you somehow don’t want to run them.

Enhancements to Carve In/Carve Out Adjustment Journal Entries

NetSuite has moreover made improvements to its revenue arrangement management, specifically when it comes to the carve in/carve out adjustment for reclassification processes that have over 1,000 lines. Instead of dividing a single revenue arrangement across multiple carve in/carve out adjustment journals, NetSuite does not split any revenue arrangement across multiple carve in/carve out adjustment journals, which do improve readability. However, the line limits for reclassification journal entries remain unchanged. If a reclassification journal entry goes beyond 1,000 lines, the system will still generate multiple entries.

Expense Commitments and Budget Validation Enhancements

The Expense Commitments and Budget Validation SuiteApp version 1.1.2 has been updated to include the following enhancements:Roll Over Budget: Users can now carry forward any unused budget from the previous budget period to the current period by selecting the "Roll Over Budget" option in the Primary Information section of the expense record.Support for Different Budget Methods: The SuiteApp has expanded its budget methods beyond just Monthly. The updated version supports Quarterly, Yearly, and Custom budget methods. However, for the Custom method, users must manually enter the start and end dates.

Personal Information Removal Enhancements for Addresses

Looking at account setup and maintenance, the new release also comes with a bunch of exciting features.First, NetSuite has made the process of anonymizing personal information faster and easier for users who are concerned about their personal data. Here are some key updates that have been made to the system:Shipping/Billing Address: Instead of selecting individual fields to remove personal information, users can now select the Shipping Address and Billing Address fields to anonymize all corresponding fields. This change applies to all address fields, including Shipping Address Country, Override, Shipping Address State, Shipping Address Zip Code, Shipping Address is Residential, Billing Address is Residential, Ship To, Shipping Address, Vendor, and Billing Address.Fields for Tax & Shipping Calculations: Fields used for tax and shipping calculations, such as Country, Subdivision, Postal Code, and City, can no longer be removed with PI (personal information) removal requests. While these fields do not contain any personal information, they might still be necessary for future financial audits.Transactions in Closed Periods: Users can now create PI removal requests for addresses used in transactions from closed accounting periods. In recent privacy laws, such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the right to be forgotten has become a crucial requirement. To enhance compliance with privacy regulations, NetSuite offers the Personal Information Removal feature, which allows the removal of Personal Information data from record field values, notes logs, and workflow history. A user can use this feature without having to contact NetSuite Customer Support. The feature also replaces the Audit Trail History field value with a user-defined message, but does not remove the Audit Trail History logs.

Subscribe to a Specific Data Center from the NetSuite Status Page

To stay informed about updates or issues related to specific data centers, you can subscribe to the NetSuite Service Status Page updates via email or phone. Simply select the data center for which you want to receive incident reports and click on the "Subscribe to Updates" button. This will enable you to receive newsletters that will keep you updated on any developments regarding your chosen data center(s).

Scheduled Scripts No Longer Run Automatically in Sandbox After a Refresh

After a refresh, scheduled scripts that were originally set up in production will no longer run automatically in a sandbox account as they are account-specific. It is therefore necessary to configure them separately in the sandbox account.

End of Support for HMAC-SHA1 Signature Method for TBA

Looking at authentication processes, it’s worth mentioning that the HMAC-SHA1 signature method for Token-based Authentication (TBA) will no longer be supported. This means that integrations using the TBA feature with HMAC-SHA1 will stop working, including third-party integrations. The recommended signature method is now HMAC-SHA256 and you must update the authorization header to use it.

End of Support for New SMS/Voice Call Setup for 2FA

After March 1, 2023, the SMS/Voice Call option for Two-factor authentication (2FA) setup will no longer be available as well. Users who need to set up 2FA after this date will only be able to use an authenticator app. This change will not affect existing 2FA setups or backup codes. This is because SMS/Voice Call is susceptible to interception and breaches, and is also affected by service provider and signal problems.

Improved CSV Bank Statement File Parsing

Version 23.1.0 of Bank Statement Parsers SuiteApp has automated the removal of time, time zone, and footer from CSV bank statement files before importing. This reduces the errors typically caused by manual editing. Additionally, users can configure the parser to automatically remove footer lines and specify the number of lines to remove under the Parser Configuration subtab.

Invoice Groups Feature Updates

Looking at the order management features, invoice grouping is from now on only allowed for invoices using the same A/R account. A new read-only Account field has been added to the Invoice Group record, Invoice Groups list page, and Group Invoices page to indicate the A/R account used in an invoice group. The Account field can also be used as a search criterion in the Invoice Group Search page and a criterion in the invoice group dataset in SuiteAnalytics.

Menu Search Feature Updates

User interface will also be slightly improved. The Menu Search feature in global search now includes search results from the Navigation Menu. The search results appear in a Current Page Results section, and searches include all fields, tabs, and subtabs on the current NetSuite form. To view Current Page Results without using the global search, press Alt+Shift+G.

New Preference to Display Inline Editor Sublist Tooltip

While editing an inline sublist, tooltips displaying the column name will pop up when hovering over a cell. It is now possible to control whether these tooltips appear or not by selecting or deselecting the "Sublist Column Name Tooltip" option in the Appearance subtab of the Home > Set Preferences menu.

Conclusion

NetSuite 2023.1 release has truly set the bar high for cloud-based business software. With an array of exciting new features and improvements, users can expect a smoother, more streamlined experience than ever before. And for those complaining about the minor updates, Vincent Van Gogh once said : “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together…” For a complete review of this new release, please report to the release notes documentation which can be found on Oracle’s website.

Did you know that…

Each NetSuite Release actually occurs in four phases from Mid-January until Mid-April for the first release. You typically would also get an email notification sent to the address(es) configured in your administrative notification settings

• Your Release Preview environment is typically made available about one month before your scheduled upgrade. However, from our experience, you can get it earlier in the release cycle by simply requesting (via Setup >> Company >> Release Preview).
• In addition to requesting a Release Preview (RP) account for your Production account, it is also possible to request a separate Release Preview account for each of your Sandbox accounts.
• Similar to the Sandbox refresh, you can request for a fresh snapshot of your Production data to be pushed to your Release Preview environment.
• The Sandbox environment also gets upgraded but typically not on the same day as Production.